Melbourne Renegades’ India import and the country’s T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur has been named the player of the tournament for the 2021 season of the Women’s Big Bash League.

Harmanpreet Kaur’s numbers in WBBL21

12 matches

Batting: 11 inngs, 399 runs, avg of 66.50, SR of 135.25
Bowling: 12 inngs, 15 wickets, avg of 20.40, ER of 7.46 

Kaur is currently topping both the batting and bowling tallies for the Melbourne Renegades, scoring 399 runs at a strike rate of 135.25 in 11 innings, and taking 15 wickets at an average of 20.4 with her off-spin.

Kaur, who has previously represented Sydney Thunder, is playing in the WBBL after a two-year absence and has made a welcome return to form after struggling to get going in India colours due to injury troubles in recent ties. She is now the first Indian player to win the honour.

Sophie Devine had won the award in the past two seasons but Kaur’s superb allround show gave her the edge.

Harmanpreet Kaur’s star show

Most sixes: 1st
Best batting average: 1st
Most runs: 8th
Best SR (min 100 runs): 3rd
Most 50-plus scores: Joint 7th

The Indian star has also hit a competition-best 18 sixes, while her bowling has also come along extremely well after she was forced to step up following the injury to her club’s star leg-spinner, Georgia Wareham.

Votes were awarded on a 3-2-1 basis by both standing umpires at the end of every match, meaning a player can receive up to six votes per match.

Kaur is also the only Indian to find a place in the team of the tournament. Other than Kaur, Smriti Mandhana (377 runs) and Jemimah Rodrigues (317 runs) have had a good tournament as well.

WBBL Player of the Tournament

1) Harmanpreet Kaur (Renegades) – 31 votes

=2) Sophie Devine (Scorchers) – 28

=2) Beth Mooney (Scorchers) – 28

4) Grace Harris (Heat) – 25

=5) Georgia Redmayne (Heat) – 24

=5) Mignon du Preez (Hurricanes) – 24 

Kaur and Renegades will take on Adelaide Strikers in the match to decide the finalists where table-toppers Perth Scorchers await. The Indian star did not bat in Renegades’ last match of the group phase citing illness, but has told cricket.com.au that she is ready. to go for the knockout match at Adelaide Oval on Thursday.

“I was not feeling well that day but luckily I’ve had four or five days off and I’m feeling much better,” she said. “I’m ready to go for the next game.”